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Writer's pictureMary Ann

Sarah Potenza To Release New Album 'Road To Rome' On International Women's Day, March 8th



Nashville-based songwriter, activist and vocal powerhouse Sarah Potenza will release her second solo album, titled 'Road To Rome,' on International Women's Day, March 8th.

A new track "I Work For Me" premiered yesterday on Rolling Stone:


"I Work For Me" is now available for streaming. You can stream the single and pre-save, pre-add, or pre-order the album here: https://ffm.to/roadtorome.


Signed CDs are available for purchase here: https://bit.ly/2AGGnGB.


Potenza tells RS, “”I Work for Me” is about more than just bossing up and doing for yourself. It’s saying ‘Hey, I work for me, as in, my body, my spirit, my personality, who I am…It all works for me. “I Work for Me” is my dedication to those who told me I wasn’t good enough. What I have come to know, is that what they really meant to say was, ‘How dare you believe that you can, when I don’t dare believe that I can.’ Because confidence scares people. It puts them in the awkward position of facing their own fear of success.”


Known to millions as a semi-finalist on season 8 of The Voice, Sarah went on to release a critically-acclaimed debut solo LP 'Monster' in 2016, which prompted Rolling Stone to gush, "Potenza is to the blues what Adele is to pop: a colossal-voiced singer who merges her old-school influences with a modernistic sound."


Three years later, that sound deepens and intensifies with 'Road to Rome', an album of self-empowered R&B, swaggering soul, and contemporary blues — with her own declaration of independence.


Co-written by Potenza, her husband Ian Crossman and friend Justin Wiseman, produced by Jordan Brooke Hamlin (Indigo Girls, Lucy Wainwright Roche), and recorded with a female-heavy cast of collaborators, the album isn't just her own story. It's the story of all artists — particularly women, who remain the minority within the male-dominated music industry — who've learned to trust their instincts, refusing to let mainstream trends dilute their own artistic statements.


Potenza will be previewing songs off the new record when she launches her tour on January 15 in Nashville.


Sarah will also join artists such as Andrew McMahon and The Wilderness, Matt Nathanson, Plain White T's and others on The Rock Boat XIX Feb 1-6, and will perform alongside Melissa Etheridge, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole and many more on The Melissa Etheridge Cruise III March 31-April 7.


Upcoming Shows:

Tue, January 15- Nashville, TN- The 5 Spot

Fri, January 18 – Alpharetta, GA – House Show

Sat, January 19 – LaGrange, GA – Pure Life Studios

Tues, January 22 – Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic

Wed, January 23 – Pooler, GA – House Show

Fri, January 25 – Ray Beach, FL – House Show

Sat, January 26 – Deerfield Beach, FL – House Show

Sun, January 27 – Palm City, FL – House Show

Tues, January 29 – Palm Harbor, FL – House Show

Fri, February 1 – The Rock Boat

Sat, February 2 – The Rock Boat

Sun, February 3 – The Rock Boat

Mon, February 4 – The Rock Boat

Tues, February 5 – The Rock Boat

Wed, February 6 – The Rock Boat

Sun, March 31 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Mon, April 1 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Tues, April 2 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Wed, April 3 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Thurs, April 4 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Fri, April 5 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Sat, April 6 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise

Sun, April 7 – The Melissa Etheridge Cruise


ABOUT SARAH POTENZA'S 'ROAD TO ROME':

Just who is Sarah Potenza? She's a songwriter. A bold, brassy singer. A businesswoman. A proud, loud-mouthed Italian-American from Providence, Rhode Island, with roots in Nashville and an audience that stretches across the Atlantic.


Filled with messages of self-worth, determination, and drive, Sarah Potenza's Road to Rome shines new light on the songwriter whose career already includes multiple albums as front-woman of Sarah and the Tall Boys, a game-changing appearance on The Voice, and an acclaimed solo debut titled Monster.


Writing sessions for Road to Rome took place aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean, as well as at her home in East Nashville. It was during the cruise that she first began writing songs with Justin Wiseman, a piano player from Austin, TX. For years, she and her husband, Ian Crossman, had worked together as a duo, splitting their musical duties more or less equally, writing songs with guitar in hand, and merging their very different influences. This was something different, though — something about the piano that allowed Potenza the chance to rediscover her own voice, making an album whose unique approach to soul music was entirely her own. Although Crossman and Wiseman’s contributions as co-writers can be heard throughout Road to Rome's tracks, the album represents a strong shift in dynamic, with Potenza leading the charge.


When it came time to record Road to Rome at MOXE, Jordan Brooke Hamlin's Nashville-area studio, Potenza looked to a wide range of musicians for influence. She turned to Whitney Houston. To Lauryn Hill. To Pops Staples, the Dirty Projectors, RL Burnside, Bette Midler, and more. Those artists gave her inspiration not only on a musical level, but on an emotional and thematic level, too. They were artists who spoke with conviction, chasing their own muses into unique, personalized territory. Potenza did the same, turning Road to Rome into an album filled with everything from the torch song balladry of "Earthquake" (a love letter to Crossman, thanking him for years of support ) to the funky fire of "Dickerson and Queen" (where Potenza howls, swoons, and croons over bass grooves and swirling organ, reminding everyone that, "I don't give a fuck about nothing but the music"). She even makes room for a piano-propelled cover of "Worthy," originally written by Grammy-nominated icon Mary Gauthier, who personally sent the song to Potenza.


Set for release on International Women's Day 2019, Road to Rome is the sound of a songwriter taking the wheel and driving toward her own destination. This is Sarah Potenza's strongest album to date: a battlecry from a soul singer and blues belter, shot through with pop melodies, rock & roll attitude, and absolutely zero fucks.


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